≈ Comments Off on A Scholar On The Holy Spirit? Pringle And The Windy Way.

It seems Phil Pringle regards himself as a scholar of the Holy Spirit, and not only Phil – earlier this year at Hillsong Conference, Brian Houston said Phil Pringle is a man who is in tune with and an expert on the Holy Spirit. In this article, we will clearly demonstrate that Pringle has very little understanding at all and promotes a spirit that actually works against the Holy Spirit.

Before addressing Pringle’s teachings on the Holy Spirit, it’s important to look at how the Apostle Paul contrasts the ways of the Holy Spirit to the ways of false teachers.

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” Ephesians 4:11-14

Those equipped by the Holy Spirit are built up in the KNOWLEDGE of Jesus. Cunning and crafty people keep people in their spiritual infancy and have them “blown here and there by every wind of teaching”. You can’t rely on the subjective leadings and promptings to build and equip the people of God. Can you imagine a worker building his house like this? Instead you need objective instruction and guidelines to build and equip the body of Christ. Unlike Jesus and His Apostles, Pringle builds on the ways of the wind – as we are about to see.

On the topic of the Holy Spirit, he shows he has very little understanding of the third person of the Trinity. This is evident in his teaching on the character, nature and purpose of the Holy Spirit, the ability to discern things in the Spirit and what the role of ‘tongues’ is in the Spirit. Once we start to unpack these key areas, we start to understand why Phil Pringle’s theology is so subjective, convoluted, confusing and messy. On a more serious note, Christians have to wonder if Pringle knows God the Holy Spirit at all.

MOVING IN THE ‘SUBJECTIVE SPIRIT’ OR ‘SPIRIT OF TRUTH’?

Phil Pringle introduces his book ‘Moving In The Spirit’ with some false claims about the Holy Spirit.

“The Holy Spirit is not merely a ‘truth’ of Scripture. He is not just a subject to be studied. He is a person. Relating to the Holy Spirit is a subjective experience, encountering a person living in a different dimension to ours.” – Phil Pringle, Moving In The Spirit, pg. 3.

Is relating to the Holy Spirit really a ‘subjective experience’? Jesus says this about the Holy Spirit and how he operates in relation to the world:

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” John 16:7-11 (Emphasis added)

Does it sound as though our relationship with the Holy Spirit is a subjective experience?

The above is pretty self-explanatory. We can see that Jesus promotes the Holy Spirit as a very objective person of the Godhead that convicts men of their sins and shortcomings before God.

How? The Holy Spirit has chosen to move through the preaching of the gospel, the Word of God. This is why the writer of Hebrews observes that the Word of God is living and ‘sharper than a double-edged sword’,

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning [judging] the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:12-13

There is no room for the human soul to subjectively relate to the Holy Spirit when He comes convicting them with the evidence of their sin before God.

Furthermore, doesn’t the Holy Spirit lead us to the scriptures so we can learn about Jesus Christ? Doesn’t the Holy Spirit grow and mature us in Christ so we may daily glorifying Him? The Word of God reveals that it was the Holy Spirit who wrote God’s Word and claims, “Thy Word is truth”. There’s nothing subjective about the person of the Holy Spirit.

More importantly, the Holy Spirit does not live “in a different dimension to ours”. That is a pagan philosophy and is a teaching not heard of in the scriptures. That teaching would have come from Pringle’s ‘Apostolic oversight’, David Yonggi Cho – a man who has blurred paganism with Christianity, attributing demonic practices to Holy Spirit living.

We are not taking Pringle out of context. Prior to the above quote, he said this.

“The Holy Spirit is a person!

Those expecting this [book] to be an exhaustive Scriptural study on the Holy Spirit will be disappointed. Rather, this is an effort to aid you in ministry through introducing you to the Holy Spirit. To the person, not just the subject, or the knowledge.

Obviously, Scripture is the yardstick of any spiritual experience. We must know what the Bible states about unseen realities. However, occasionally we all fall into knowing about truths, yet fail to experience them.” – Phil Pringle, Moving In The Spirit, pg. 3.

The way he introduces his book is fairly clumsy. Some books do not have to be exhaustive to give a reasonable introduction to the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit gave us the scriptures. So a basic introduction to the topic of the Holy Spirit should at least be a decent scriptural study on the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, the above introduction is flawed on this basis: the Holy Spirit wants to ALWAYS introduce you or point you to Jesus, not Himself. Jesus continues,

““I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes,he will guide you into all the truth, forhe will not speak on his own authority, but whatever
he hears he will speak, andhe will declare to you the things that are to come.He will glorify me, forhe will take what is mine and declare it to you.”John 16:12-14 (Emphasis added)

A good teacher will always be teaching a student truths in a subject. The teacher will try to remove obstacles that may get in the way of the child’s learning, including themselves. Likewise, the Holy Spirit is like a good teacher on the subject of Jesus Christ. If the Holy Spirit is the focus, He is not a good teacher and probably not the Holy Spirit (since it is at fault pointing to himself and not to the Son – therefore not a holy spirit). As Jesus said, the Spirit of Truth will clearly GUIDE people into all truth and glorify Jesus.

So do you think there is going to be much about Jesus in Pringle’s book ‘Moving in the Spirit’ or more emphasis on YOU (or Pringle) subjectively experiencing the ‘Holy Spirit’?

Since Pringle seems to be pitting a subjective Holy Spirit to the objective Holy Spirit of scriptures, you can expect his theology in this book to be extensively poor. Consider some of these quotes,

“This present Age of the Holy Spirit began with Pentecost. The Church was born in a tornado of spiritual phenomena. The first believers had no New Testament to read. They had the Old Testament, but all new revelation came from the Holy Spirit, the Great Friend of the young Church.” – Phil Pringle, Moving In The Spirit, pg. 7.

This is a dangerous teaching. Phil Pringle says that, “the Church was born in a tornado of spiritual phenomena,” suggesting that the Holy Spirit gave only new revelation to the “young church” through such phenomena. It was the Holy Spirit who wrote the Old Testament scriptures and it was Jesus who revealed how the Holy Spirit wrote about the coming person of of Jesus, His crucifixion, His resurrection, His ascension, His church and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The Apostles were not lead by ‘impressions’ but were driven by the truth of what they saw in their lifetime. They witnessed the fulfilment of scriptures before their eyes. They had Jesus teach them and “sanctify them in the truth” in understanding the purpose of the Old Testament scriptures.

The church was born through Christ’s atoning work on the cross. The Spirit came to glorify Christ and to confirm the message that the Apostles preached about Christ and Him crucified. The truth is – the church was born on the truth of what Christ had done for sinners.

Pringle continues…

“The enormous appetite for the occult and rise of a New Age Movement says the Church has not satisfied widespread hunger for spiritual reality. The message is clear. We are to be adequate, competent ministers of the Holy Spirit and His power.” – Phil Pringle, Moving In The Spirit, pg. 8.

This is a preposterous quote. Since when does the interaction between broader culture and paganism determine the actions of the church? That’s like saying: “The prevalence of atheism in our society says that the Church has not satisfied the widespread hunger for a godless existence. The message is clear. We are to be secular, rationalistic ministers of reason and naturalism”. In a way, it reeks of Pelagianism. It suggests that the wider culture is trying to seek God but we’re just not demonstrating him well enough, so they’re satisfying their godly desires in an ungodly place, the New Age Movement.

As we can see, when Pringle emphasises the ‘subjective’ relationship Christians are supposed to have with this ‘Holy Spirit’, the more dangerous this spirit actually becomes. People will exchange the spirit of truth for a seducing feel-good spirit of phenomenon and lies .

“While in prayer we ‘sensitize’ ourselves to the Spirit. We learn to ‘feel’ God, to be aware of Him, to see the Lord than our surroundings.” – Phil Pringle, Moving In The Spirit, pg. 11.

The dangerous framework laid out at the beginning of his book sums up the content pretty well. His theology on the Holy Spirit is a convoluted, nonsensical, New-Age mess filled with glaring contradictions and serious biblical flaws.

Consider this statement:

“We all consider ourselves experts in some field. We know best. We put aside ‘leadings’ and ‘impressions’. But this is why the Holy Spirit is here. He is available to us all in every area of life. Not only to pastors and preachers. The Holy Spirit is for every believer. (Acts 2:39). We are all called to be led by the Spirit. (Rom 8:14). – Phil Pringle, Moving In The Spirit, pg. 12.

It is true that we should be led by the Holy Spirit. Yet it is the Holy Spirit that leads us to His scriptures and gives us a sound, critical mind of reason. A distinguishing feature of someone who operates in the Spirit is someone with a discerning mind:

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God,and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes [only] of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern [judge] good and evil.” Hebrews 5:11-14

Pringle on the other hand seems to not even lead people to embrace even the milk or meat. To at least provide milk (foundational Christian teachings) of the spirit, is at least making infants. But the ‘spirit’ Pringle offers is subjectively leading people on ‘leadings’ and impressions’, the liver shivers, the heart-felt experiences, signs, etc.

In other words, Pringle is not leading people to become even infants of God. Once again, Pringle elevates subjectivity over the Holy Spirit’s objectivity. This is incredibly dangerous. And as we are about to see, Pringle lets his personal ‘liver shivers’ do the leading in this book.

PRINGLE’S TEACHING ON DISCERNMENT:

For example, everyone should be concerned on Pringle’s definition of ‘discernment’:

“The gift of the ‘discerning of spirits’ is given to aid understanding of the spiritual world. Through this ability we gain insights of angels, demons and their activities. We know what the Holy Spirit is doing. We know what attitude He is bringing to the people of God. We receive insight into a person’s spirit and the surrounding spiritual atmosphere.” – Phil Pringle, Moving In The Spirit, pg. 12.

Look at how Pringle uses the words ‘discern’, ‘discerning’ or ‘discernment’ in these sentences.

“The New Testament minister should be able to discern what God is doing. We are to understand the movings of the Holy Spirit, what He is doing. We should know what the ‘mood’ of the Spirit is. We should be able to discern the atmosphere of a place, whether good or bad…

… Discerning of spirits is given so we correctly perceive the true motivation of people’s actions and words…

… Discerning of spirits gives knowledge of angels and their activities…

… During these ‘discernings’, I did not actually ‘see’ an angel. I simply discerned that angels were present.” – Phil Pringle, Moving In The Spirit, pg. 86-87.

This information on Pringle is important. This is because the true gift of discernment is given to people who are faithful in studying the scriptures, which Pringle dismally fails to do.

Charles Spurgeon says this about discernment:

“By this the elect of God are known—that they love the Word of God, and they have a reverence for it, and discern between it and the words of man… The sheep of Christ know the Shepherd’s voice in the Word, and a stranger will they not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers. God’s own people have discernment to discover and relish God’s own Word. They will not be misled by the cunning craftiness of human devices. Saints know the Scriptures by inward instinct. The holy life, which God has infused into believers by his Spirit, loves the Scriptures, and learns how to use them for holy purposes. Young soldier, you must go to the training-ground of the Holy Spirit to be made a proficient swordsman.” – Charles Spurgeon, The Sword of the Spirit, 19th of April, 1891.

Spurgeon is also known for saying, “Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the difference between right and almost right”. His teaching on discernment rings true to what scripture teaches.

“Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to diakrisin good from evil.” Hebrews 5:13-14 (Edit ours)

In the Greek, diakrisin means ‘distinguish’ or ‘discern’. In Hebrews 4, we see the writer use the word ‘kritikos’ to describe how the ‘Word of God’ functions. ‘Kritikos’ means ‘critical, able to judge or discern’. The context in Hebrews 4 says,

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

We see that it is the ‘Word of God’ that is “discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”. Christ is the Word of God and His Spirit to the church gives us His written ‘Word of God’ that also fulfills that role of discernment. The writings of the Holy Spirit can help us see the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is Paul who reveals that he can put God’s Word in practice in light of proper discernment. He wished to deal with the Corinthian church and the false teachers who were wreaking havoc among the believers.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

When reading the Apostle Paul and other New Testament writers who wrote under the influence of the Holy Spirit, compare how objective they are to the ambiguous mind and teachings of Phil Pringle. Pringle has no clue whatsoever how he should read scripture and how he should grow in his understanding of the Holy Spirit. This leads us to his very bizarre teaching on spiritual languages.

FOUNDATIONAL SCHIZOPHRENIC LANGUAGES?

Chapter 6 in his book ‘Moving in the Spirit’ is titled ‘The Gifts of the Spirit’ which consists of a peculiar layout of sub-chapters. Under the title of ‘VOCAL GIFTS’, Pringle says, “Tongues is evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit” (pg. 74). He teaches this is the ‘evidence’ required of a believer:

According to Pringle, “Other Languages” were “languages which disciples in the Upper Room spoke on the Day of Pentecost” (pg. 75). However he seems to imply that it is more than just native human languages and “does not require interpretation” (pg. 75). Hold this thought.

According to Pringle, “Unknown languages” is “intended, not for others, but for God. No interpretation necessary” (pg. 76).

Pringle says that “Angelic Languages” are “communications from God to man. This is an unintelligible (to earthly ears) message… It is the language of angels (1 Corinthians 13:1). It is a message from God, via an angel, spoken by a believer, to the church… Angelic tongues need interpretation”.

‘Angelic Languages’ is not something that Paul the Apostle was promoting. In fact, when Paul mentioned the ‘tongues of angels’, he had “false apostles” and “deceitul workmen” (2 Cor 11) of Corinth in mind who promoted angelic experiences over the teachings of Jesus’ Apostles. Although 1 Corinthians 13 sounds beautiful and addresses the fridge or mantle pieces in Christian homes, the chapter stands as a rebuke to contrast Christian love against the ‘love’ of these deceitful workers. Their love for the church was nothing more than a ‘clanging gong’.

“And what I do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”2 Corinthians 11:12-15

These false teachers in Corinth promoted angelic experience and false teachings and had not love. Nowhere in scriptures are we taught to speak in ‘angelic languages’. For Pringle to promote that Christians are to speak in ‘angelic languages’ as ‘evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit’ is dangerous. This would only open up people to demonic attack.

Attempting to understand Phil Pringle’s continually inconsistent theology on the topic of the Holy Spirit has been a challenge for us in his books. He ends his book desiring people to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and to speak in tongues:

“Thirdly, speak in tongues. Acts 2:4 tells us that they ‘began to speak’. Give voice to your new language. You ask . . . The Holy Spirit falls on you . . . You speak with new tongues.

Speak, until out of your most innermost being flow rivers of living water, just as Jesus promise(sic).” – Phil Pringle, Moving In The Spirit, pg. 112.

Hold this quote in your thoughts. Now that we have examined ‘Moving In The Spirit’, we can begin to understand how lost Pringle becomes in his own subjective teachings on the third person of the trinity. You are being warned! You are now about to enter the twilight zone of Phil Pringle…

THE SCHOLARLY WORK OF PRINGLE: SEVEN BIG THINGS THAT MAKE LIFE WORK

We would like to point you to Phil Pringle promoting his book “7 Big Things That Make Life Work”. This is how he promotes his book online:

“Seven Big Things That Make Life Work focuses on the basic foundational truths of the Christian life in an exciting new way – biblical without being religious and scholarly without being dry. Pastor and author Phil Pringle combines a scholarly, biblical approach with a thoroughly Spirit-filled theology.” – Resource, PhilPringle.com, http://philpringle.com/resource/7-things-that-make-life-work, (Accessed 29/03/2013).

Pringle regards his work to be “scholarly”? Bit of advice Phil, use references and footnotes.

Now we need you to remember what Pringle said in his above book on Acts and what languages (or tongues) Pringle said the Apostles spoke in. First, we look at the scriptures in Acts 2 since Pringle is quite confused what actually occurred there.

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”” Acts 2:5-12

It’s clear in this passage that God blessed His Apostles by allowing the Holy Spirit in them to speak the native languages of gentiles as Acts records. In SBT, Pringle writes about the day of Pentecost and the language that the Holy Spirit gave the disciples.

“OTHER TONGUES

This is when the Spirit empowers a person to speak a foreign language that they have not learned. The speaker supernaturally communicates a message from the Lord in another language to people. Obviously, it is the language of the hearers. This is what happened on the day of Pentecost. Many foreign proselytes were attending the Feasts of Passover and Pentecost. God wanted to speak to them. He did so in their own languages.” – Phil Pringle, Seven Big Things That Mike Life Work: Principles For Successful Living, USA: Shippensburg, Destiny Image Publishers Inc, 2010, pg. 81.

This sounds right, doesn’t it? We actually agree with Phil Pringle here. However, eleven pages later he says this:

“Third, speak in tongues. Acts 2:4 tells us that they “began to speak.” Give voice to your new language. You ask…the Holy Spirit falls on you… You speak in new tongues. Speak, until out of your most innermost being flow rivers of living water, just as Jesus promise.” – Phil Pringle, Seven Big Things That Mike Life Work: Principles For Successful Living, USA: Shippensburg, Destiny Image Publishers Inc, 2010, pg. 92.

Sound familiar? Even though this is in his ‘scholarly’ book ‘Seven Big Things That Make Life Work’, this is taken straight out of his book ‘Moving in the Spirit’.

Using the same event, Pringle cannot make up his mind what Luke recorded at Pentecost. His teaching is clearly absurd and sadly highlights how double-minded Phil Pringle is on the topic of the Holy Spirit. But we must understand – Pringle doesn’t have to be restricted to reason or logic since his relationship with the Holy Spirit is founded on “subjective experience”.

SO SCHOLARLY, THIS WAS C3 COLLEGE MATERIAL:

We’ve been collecting resources that were used by C3 College students for their courses. A few decades ago, the college used to be called ‘Ministry Training College’ (MTC). One resource in particular we have obtained is the ‘Foundations for Leadership’ curriculum.

This is where the Spirit inspires a foreign tongue which has not been learned by natural means. The speaker supernaturally communicates a message from the Lord in another language to other people. Obviously it is the language of the hearers. This is what happened on the day of Pentecost. Many foreign proselytes were attending the Feasts of Passover and Pentecost. God wanted to speak to them. He did so in their own languages, through the freshly Spirit-filled disciples. This is man speaking to man supernaturally.

2. Unknown Tongues

In 1 Corinthians 14:2 Paul says:

“He who speaks in an (unknown) tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no man understands him, however, in the Spirit he speaks mysteries.”

This means that the tongue spoken of here is different from that expressed on the Day of Pentecost. No one understands this language. This is referred to as glossolalia. The gift of new tongues is most often expressed in this manner. Although unintelligible to others, it is intelligible to God. This is man speaking to God supernaturally.” – Phil Pringle, Foundations For Leadership, CCC, MTC, SCA Curriculum.

Pringle CLEARLY distinguishes a difference between “unknown tongues” and “other tongues’ but then refutes them both when teaching from Acts 2.

So what is going on here? Why can’t Pringle logically conclude what he actually believes happened on Pentecost? Why is he so double-minded on this issue? Does Pringle truly know the Holy Spirit of God? If so- why isn’t his teaching logical?

PRINGLE’S SUBJECTIVE ‘HOLY SPIRIT’:

How can Pringle’s book ‘Moving In The Spirit’ introduce you to the Holy Spirit if he is not prepared to do an accurate scriptural study on the SUBJECT and KNOWLEDGE of the Holy Spirit?

If you do read this book, what yardstick Pringle is actually using should come to mind. Pringle isn’t talking about the Spirit leading us into a greater knowledge of Christ within biblical truth and discipleship. His book elevates subjective, supernatural experiences, atmospheres, spiritual encounters, inner voices and so on.

In spite of his teachings on the Holy Spirit, Pringle keeps slipping up, peddling New Age philosophies. And it should come as no surprise when he endorses Word of Faith teachers like Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, John Avanzini, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin who all peddle occult doctrines from the New Thought cults.

Is it any wonder Pringle will peddle pantheistic, monotheistic and occultic doctrines himself?

It is incredibly dangerous to embrace the Holy Spirit as a subjective person. The scriptures clearly teach us that the Holy Spirit GAVE us the scriptures and leads us to the truth THROUGH the scriptures.

Another repeated name of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is the name ‘Spirit of Truth’. How is that name of the Spirit suggesting the Spirit of God is subjective in nature and relationship? The Holy Spirit essentially and continually points us to Christ and have Christ preached so the Holy Spirit can convict us of our sins. This really explains why Pringle comes across so double-minded in his teachings. If you want to appear biblically illiterate, embrace the subjective spirit that Pringle peddles.

(Note: Thank you to the ex-student who has provided us
with their C3 College/MTC material to C3CW/CWC

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≈ Comments Off on Phil Pringle – God’s Word confirms that you are a false prophet….

From our ChurchWatch Central site:

How can we recognize false prophets unless we judge them by the Word of God?

How can we turn away from them if we do not identify them?

It is written,

“But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’—when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.” Deuteronomy 18:20-22

“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:24

“Amen, Father. Here right now. Father in heaven, deliverance is theirs. [Chris Pringle: “Yes!”] You’ve circled us with songs of deliverance. You’ve turned our mourning into dancing. The oil of just- the feelings of despair, the ashes are replaced with the oil of joy. What a victory this will be. Though it’s dragged on, it’s only for a greater rope to hang the devil by. In Jesus name, Father we pronounce victory. [Crowd cheers]. We pronounce [Chris Pringle: “Yes!”] conquering. WE PRONOUNCE DELIVERANCE IN JESUS NAME. NOT ONE NIGHT WILL THIS FAIR HEAD SPEND BEHIND BARS. LORD GOD YOUR NAME IS EXALTED. YOU WILL GLORIFY THE NAME OF JESUS to this great man and his wife and that awesome church that they have built by the power of God and in the name of Jesus.

So here tonight Father, all of us stand together as the body of Christ, as the Kingdom of God. We can invoke things on this earth in that name above every other name. We have a power. We declare it in Jesus name.

SALVATION! VICTORY AND DELIVERANCE! In Jesus mighty name! Hahaha! Oh bless him! The blessings in heaven, bessings of the mountains, blessings of the hills, blessings of the valleys, blessings of the city, blessings of the country, blessings of the people, blessings of the nations – rest upon you. You’ll speak to those who sit on thrones. You’ll stand before those who command the affairs of men. You’ll speak from a broken heart and win those who are proud and they will break and kneel before you. And those who’ve attacked you will be at your feet, seeking forgiveness. And you will show the grace of God and the hand of Heaven and the reconciliation of the Spirit of the Lord.

“Kings will come to Christ. Men who have opposed with their proud mind the things of God will be bent towards God, blown by a wind greater than themselves. God is raising you up. Once you have come through this, you’ll stand and strengthen the church.

Not only in Singapore, not only in Asia but through-out the world,” says the Lord. “You’ll strengthen the hearts of pastors everywhere, prophets everywhere, apostles everywhere, preachers, evangelists.”

So bless this man Lord. As he builds a massive bridge into China, that nation will come to Christ. The price of China is being paid in your world right now. An anointing for a nation yet to come to Christ. Jesus!

CHINA! TURN! And oil, none other has carried, will be placed upon you that you will share with many thousands of evangelists [that] will travel to the nation of China, like messengers carrying the message of the king – and that I will put the trumpet to your lips. You will grow an army. A vast army will gather.

“Your hour is yet to come,” says the Lord, “But I will bless you in Jesus name”. [Source]

How should members of C3 Oxford Falls (and their many satellite churches around the world) react to the false prophecy given by Phil Pringle in their 2011 Presence Conference?

How long will the C3 congregations continue to allow Phil Pringle to oversee their movement when God’s Word clearly identifies him as a false prophet?

A true Christian is a person who has put their faith and trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Sadly, it seems many people attending C3 have put put their “faith and trust” in the ministry of a false prophet. Based on Jesus’ own words, do we have the right to question the faith that these attendees confess to have in Jesus?

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you…Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” John 14:15-17, 21

We ask C3 members who may be reading this, who do you love more? Who do you really follow?

Jesus or Phil Pringle?

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.” 2Peter 2:1-2

The Strait Times reports:

SINGAPORE – City Harvest Church (CHC) founder Kong Hee was the first of five church leaders convicted of misappropriating millions from the church’s funds to arrive at the State Courts on Friday (April 21) to surrender himself and begin his jail term.

Kong, 52, was flanked by two men as he entered the State Courts building at around 8.30am as it rained outside. He will be jailed for 3½ years, the longest sentence of the convicted church leaders.

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≈ Comments Off on Have Christians lost the art of biblical discernment?

Another on-point article by fellow polemicist and good friend Marsha West:

“The tragedy that evangelicals have lost the art of biblical discernment must be traced to a disastrous loss of biblical knowledge. Discernment cannot survive without doctrine.”

What exactly is discernment? It means “to distinguish, to separate out by diligent search, to examine.”

Search…examine… “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11, emphasis added) The Berean Christians didn’t take Paul’s word for anything. They listened to his teaching and then they went to the scriptures to see if what he taught was true. Because the Bereans checked Paul’s teaching against Scripture, he commended them saying that they were “more noble than those in Thessalonica.”

Christians who are spiritually discerning are able to properly distinguish between true and false teaching. Those with discernment have wisdom. Moreover, in the Bible we’re told that a true believer possesses the mind of Christ. “The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:15-16)

According to Bible expositor Matthew Henry:

The apostles were not guided by worldly principles. They had the revelation of these things from the Spirit of God, and the saving impression of them from the same Spirit. These things they declared in plain, simple language, taught by the Holy Spirit, totally different from the affected oratory or enticing words of man’s wisdom. The natural man, the wise man of the world, receives not the things of the Spirit of God. The pride of carnal reasoning is really as much opposed to spirituality, as the basest sensuality. The sanctified mind discerns the real beauties of holiness, but the power of discerning and judging about common and natural things is not lost. But the carnal man is a stranger to the principles, and pleasures, and actings of the Divine life. The spiritual man only, is the person to whom God gives the knowledge of his will. … And the apostles were enabled by his Spirit to make known his mind. In the Holy Scriptures, the mind of Christ, and the mind of God in Christ, are fully made known to us. It is the great privilege of Christians, that they have the mind of Christ revealed to them by his Spirit. They experience his sanctifying power in their hearts, and bring forth good fruits in their lives. (Source – bold added)

Only the spiritual man (regenerate) possesses the knowledge of God’s will….because he has the mind of Christ. Henry calls to our attention that it is through reading the scriptures that the spiritual man receives the knowledge of His will.

Before we move on we must add a word of caution from blogger and author Tim Challies. Speaking on discernment in “How can I increase my spiritual discernment?” he wrote:

Some have mistakenly defined spiritual discernment as a God-given awareness of evil or good spiritual presences—the ability to tell if a demon is in the room. While some people may possess this capability, it is not the biblical meaning of discernment. Spiritual discernment ultimately has to do with wisdom and the ability to distinguish truth from error.

So – how do Christians grow in spiritual discernment? Two ways. By allowing the Holy Spirit to be their guiding light; likewise, thorough carefully studying the Bible.

What should we do to determine if a person’s teaching is unbiblical? We are commanded to test what’s being taught. In fact, Paul urges believers to “test everything; hold fast what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) Likewise, John encourages us to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” How does one test a spirit? By reading the scriptures, in context, for that’s where Truth is found. Why is “testing” so important? “For many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1) False prophets/teachers distort the truth….which is why the Bible refers to them as false teachers and wolves in sheep’s clothing. It’s no exaggeration to say that a large number of charlatans knowingly—and without a smidgeon of guilt–lie through their teeth. Admittedly, examining someone’s teaching is no easy task. But nowhere in Scripture are we told that it should be left to “professionals”; it is clearly our responsibility.

We mustn’t ignore the fact that any teaching that fails to line up with what the scriptures say is not from God! And if the Bible’s not the source of his/her teaching, most likely its source is the “spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.” Satan’s not called the father of lies because he’s a truth teller!

Far too many Christians rely on the discernment of other believers, like those of us involved in online discernment ministries. It’s okay to learn from each other (iron sharpens iron) but, again, we must do as the Bereans did – test! Regrettably, when it comes to testing for errors, a growing number of professing Christians deserve a failing grade.

Because so many people spend a huge amount of time on one form of technology or another, it’s easy to see why the views so many evangelicals hold are derived from TV preachers, radio/podcast personalities, best-selling books, popular bloggers and even social media. Many individuals who claim to be evangelicals search religious TV networks such as TBN, Daystar and God TV looking for a spiritual fix. Unbeknownst to them, they’re exposed to rank heresy taught by Word of Faith (WoF) teachers like Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Paula White, Joyce Meyer, Fred Price, Creflo Dollar as well as “life coach” Joel Osteen.

If Christians would take the time to test those mentioned above, they’d discover that their teaching is decidedly unbiblical. The fact of the matter is that WoF is a theological cult. What often happens when this fact is pointed out to those who have bought into the teaching of these wolves is that they become defensive, even enraged, take aim and “shoot the messenger.” Sadly, many professing Christians prefer to hold onto their conspiracy theories, unbiblical philosophies and their distorted view of Scripture than spend time studying the Bible, in context. As the saying goes: Context, context, context! Why? For the reason that taking a verse out of its proper context leads to error. According to 2 Timothy 3:16, all Scripture is “God-breathed” which means that the words on the page are inspired by or come directly from God, not from the writers. We’re commanded to read, study, and understand God’s Word. But first we must pray and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance so that we are able to discern the things of God. (1 Corinthians 2:14) In John 16:13 we learn that the Spirit of truth guides us into all truth.

What about believers who claim that they hear directly from God, those who say “God spoke to me”…“God told me” to do ___…”I felt led to___”…I sensed that God wanted me to___” You fill in the blank. “There is no divining of the will of God through feelings or extra-biblical visions or pictures that appear in our minds or voices we hear,” says Mike Ratliff. “God will never violate the truths He has given to us in His Word.”

Televangelists, who pretend to have a direct pipeline to God, prance around in front of the TV camera, claiming to hear a “word from the Lord.” At the risk of sounding divisive, most televangelists teach outright heresy (I can prove it), so why would God speak to them at all? Frauds should not expect to hear from God; they should expect to be rebuked by God.

What are we to do about false teachers? We are to “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:11) To expose means “to reprove with conviction upon the offender,” says Ratliff. So we must point out to the offender their error. And if they do not listen and repent? Then we “prove to the Body of Christ that this is so using the Word of God to show how they are not being obedient to God.” (Source)

The goal for every Christian is to eliminate aberrant and heretical teaching and all that this includes from Christ’s church. The only way for this to happen is for each of us to become a Berean. So with this I mind, those who love the Lord Jesus must “contend [fight in its defense] for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3)

I’ll close with a quote from Dr. Albert Mohler:

“The tragedy that evangelicals have lost the art of biblical discernment must be traced to a disastrous loss of biblical knowledge. Discernment cannot survive without doctrine.”

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≈ Comments Off on A valuable BTWN resource addressing dangers in evangelicalism

The Biblethumpingwingnut Network hosts Tim Hurd and Len Pettis, recently had Chris Rosebrough on their show to talk about the serious dangers in Evangelicalism. Specifically, addressing false teachers who preach themselves and what Chris Rosebrough thinks is the greatest threat to the church global today.

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We understand that the Jesus Hillsong, C3, Bethel, and other prominent churches promote promises you wealth and prosperity. They teach that their Jesus has Joel Osteen’s shiny teeth, Rick Warren’s purpose driven life, Kenneth Copeland and Jesse Duplantis’ private jets, Steven Furtick’s $1.7 million dollar home, and he offers all these things to you and more if you would just decree and declare them into existence in his name and tithe 10% of your income to your local megachurch.

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≈ Comments Off on C3 San Diego’s Drew Davies sermon reviewed on Fighting For The Faith

James 3:1 “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”

We invite our readers to listen to Drew Davies as he preaches a recent Christmas sermon at C3 San Diego. In his sermon Drew Davies says what they offer at C3 San Diego is “hope” – that they are “hope dealers, not dope dealers”.

Sadly the false hope being peddled by C3 San Diego is as addictive as any illegal substance.

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C3 Church Oxford Falls takes the idea of “giving” this Christmas to a whole new level. Most churches in the holiday season look forward to seeing people attend their Christmas services. But do you think C3 cares about you attending their service – or do you think they care more about you giving them money this Christmas?

C3 Church Oxford Falls put the following out on Instagram,

“HO HO HO indeed! Don’t miss the party these holidays. 🎉

You can still give and watch online, no matter where you are (just ask Santa!). Simply jump onto live.myc3church.net or the C3 Church App.”

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Chris Rosebrough recently reviewed another C3 San Diego sermon, exposing once again how C3 San Diego leadership have no clue how to preach, or biblically lead a Christian church. Rosebrough concluded that what he heard was “basically sloganeering. A bunch of passages ripped out of context, woven into a theology”.

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Phil Pringle of Christian City Church (C3 Church), Oxford Falls preached a sermon titled, ‘Prophecy’. Not only did Phil Pringle espouse pure Word of Faith heresy, he also preached the damnable Arian heresy.

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Whether you hold to cessationism or continuationism, sound theology matters. In this lecture you will hear a clear presentation exposing an ancient heresy invading Christianity today.

“JD Hall recently spoke at the NorCal Fire conference in California. The following is audio from his sermon, Modern Day Montanism. This is a critique of the charismatic movement, and defends the doctrine of Cessationism, particularly in regards to new prophecy.”

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